Definition of "orate" []

• To speak in a formal, often pompous manner. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Sen. Obama, like many other politicians, uses teleprompters, so his great ability to orate is based mainly on his ability to read and not speak from the hip."
• "Nunzio told the defense attorney not to "orate" when making objections but to state his arguments, and he was irritated by Judge Alexander's aggressive behavior toward witnesses."
• "Certainly, those who were wont to "orate" in the building when it stood in Brompton would have failed to recognise the edifice as it arose in"